Help me trick my new pheasant truck!

goldenboy

goldenboy

Well-known member
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Here is a picture of my new truck that I plan to use for years to come to chase those wily roosters! This is what it looks like stock. Any suggestions on things you would do to personalize it or make it more useful as a truck to hunt out of?

Here is what I have done so far.
1. Tonneau cover
2. Bed rug
3. Deep floor mats for catching mud and grime

Here are my next plans.
1. 2.5 inch leveling kit to take the front end rake out.
2. 20" rims with aggressive tires to give me a little more clearance.
3. Possibly a matching topper this fall

I typically run two dogs myself not including any my buddies bring. Any of you guys just hunt with a tonneau cover in colder climates? Anyone know of a kennel maker that makes shorter kennels to fit under a tonneau? Does anyone have the fold down from the roof of your topper storage tray? It looks pretty handy for guns, shells, etc and al that is tucked up to the roof of your topper out of the way. Looking for other suggestions?????
 
Nice rig! My suggestion is to get the first scratch and dent done and over with ! Why prolong the inevitable!
Oh and - I need to move a couch! How about next Saturday!:D
 
Just did the same thing in November. I went with a spray in bed liner, easier to clean things up. Also got some weather tech floor mats, they cover the entire carpeted area and pull out to clean. No worries about mud on the carpet. Leveling kit is on the to do list. You might consider mud flaps with the bigger tires you're putting on. They make nice organizing trays under the back seat if you're not planning on hauling your dogs back there.
 
I know the scratches are going to come! and no I am not helping you move a couch is my standard line I will memorize!

I do agree I will probably need some sort of small mud flap. I haven't seen what there is out there for under the seats storage. I need to look into that. With the seats up there is a ton of very flat space in the rear of these new trucks.
 
I like the look of those wheels, but I would be looking for new tires before hunting season for sure. I love exploring new spots, and you never know when the road might turn to snot around the next bend...

I almost hesitate to tell you about my friend's solution to the tonneau cover dog box, because it was about the most redneck thing I've ever seen... He went and bought one of those big plastic/rubber stock tanks that was exactly the height of his truck bed. Then he cut a big hole in one end and filled it up with hay. With the spray-in bedliner, it didn't really move around at all back there, and gave his dog a place to lay. It works really well, but you won't impress anybody, that's for sure. In fact, if people see you shoving golden retrievers into a rig like that, they might call the sheriff. :laugh:
 
MLF3883 I am not sure what you think the bed rug is, but it is made of recycled plastic but looks like carpet. You can wash it or sweep it or even vacuum it. It does cover all sides of the box here is a link. http://www.bedrug.com/

I love the look and have seen my buddy use them for years.

mlf3882 said:
not trying to sound critical but why such a low bed cover? vrs having a standard bed cover.

few threads below this one a guy made this for his guns
http://www.ultimatepheasanthunting.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19144
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Toad, you are hilarious! Some of my buddies think I am redneck enough if they saw me "make" one of these contraptions I would just complete their viewpoint of me. I also like the rims on this truck and plan to use them in the winter but run a different look in the few months we have here in Minnesota without snow.

Toad said:
I like the look of those wheels, but I would be looking for new tires before hunting season for sure. I love exploring new spots, and you never know when the road might turn to snot around the next bend...

I almost hesitate to tell you about my friend's solution to the tonneau cover dog box, because it was about the most redneck thing I've ever seen... He went and bought one of those big plastic/rubber stock tanks that was exactly the height of his truck bed. Then he cut a big hole in one end and filled it up with hay. With the spray-in bedliner, it didn't really move around at all back there, and gave his dog a place to lay. It works really well, but you won't impress anybody, that's for sure. In fact, if people see you shoving golden retrievers into a rig like that, they might call the sheriff. :laugh:
Click to expand...
 
Hey Joel,

Bedrug looks like a great idea especially on the gate surface; this will provide a soft spot to sit while road hunting! And it will protect the gate from dogs claws - they can really scratch a gate attempting to jump.
 
I've always put toppers on my trucks instead of tonneau covers. I'm partial to A.R.E. I've also got a bedrug in my current 2010 Dodge megacab. It was a little less money than a spray in bed-liner like I had on my last truck and a lot more comfortable on the knees. Depending on the number of dogs, sometimes the kennels are in the back seat (with it folded down), sometimes in the bed inside the topper. I'm too cheap to buy the fancy drawers so I made a wood shelf to provide gun storage space under the kennels. I originally made that for my Suburban but it fits fine in my truck now.
Tom
 
Nice truck! You might check out some mud river products, seat covers if you ever let the dogs up front, and they have some nice organizers that you hang on the back of the seats. I'll be building a platform with drawers and adding a shell to mine before season to add some storage and make it nicer to sleep in the bed of the truck. I already did the leveling kit and bigger tires so I'm good there.:thumbsup:
 
I've always been more of a stealth person as in I'm cheap. Spending a lot of money for 20" rims makes little sense to me when it's the tire height and width that counts. Don't they make a taller and wider tire for your alloy rims? If that's what you want?
I buy cheap seat covers for my old truck that last about 5-10 years before I replace them. I also take my old neoprene waders after the foot cracks to much to fix and split them open to make a big sheet of soft waterproof material for Morgan to ride on if she's muddy.
I have a cab high steel camper shell that has mounts for boat racks and a lumber rack. I've carried almost a ton of lumber on my 1/2 ton but then it's a Chevy so...:D
The steel camper also gives some roll over protection should you choose to turn turtle at an inopportune time. The fiberglass shells provide none of that but do match the trucks contours and color better than the steel
I'm puzzled by the leveling issue. Your truck looks pretty level now. Does it ride low in the rear with your dog back there? 'Course it is a Ford so...:D:D
It looks like a very nice truck. From your picture you shouldn't have to buy another before they take your keys away. I bought mine new 28 years ago and expect to have a Viking's funeral in it.
 
Congrats on new rig!

I am one that doesn't like to not have something I might need. When we head out west hunting we are a group of 4-6 guys that meet up with a larger group at the hunting area. I have a 2011 Chev Silverdo Crew Cab 2500 HD DMax and pull an eight hole dog trailer. The dog trailer has storage over the axle where the spare tire, trailer jack, dog food & water, dishes and water bucket and other various dog supplies are carried. The trailer also has a large cooler on the front and two good size storage boxes on the top. My brother-in-law and I store all our hunting gear in the boxes on top of the trailer. When you have four guys traveling in one truck it is surprising how much gear there is. In the bed of my truck I have a truck vault and I also have a Cap Pack in the top of my cap. I can put four guns in the truck vault and five guns in the Cap Pack. One half of each of those is open for other gear such as ammo, tools, first aid kit, batteries, gun supplies, bird cleaning supplies, radios, etc., etc. I like both the gun vault and the cap pack for keeping things organized and secure. I also made a plywood deck on the top of the truck vault to get rid of the gaps around it. I then carpeted the deck. Got tired of having to climb in to get stuff that had fallen in the gaps.

I went with the largest tires I could put on the stock rims. Don't skimp on buying a good tire, they can make all the difference in the world. I did a bunch of research before deciding what tire I wanted to go with. I went with Toyo Open Country AT. Great tread life guarantee (have really held up so far, 35K on them and they still have a ton of tread on them). Great traction as well. They make a little noise on the road but it is tolerable. I was going places in two wheel drive pulling the trailer that other guys were struggling with in four wheel without a trailer. Also have been great in the winter. When we put on the new tires we tightened the torsion bar and it lifted the front of the truck nearly an inch. The 2500 already had pretty good clearance so no need for a lift but tightening the torsion bar help to level the truck some.

Don't forget to get one of those hooks that you can use to pull stuff to the back of the bed from the front. I use mine all the time, it is such a handy tool.

The floor mats with the deep wells are a must in my opinion, have them front and rear. Also have the Du-ha underseat storage under the back seat.

The good news is that most of this gear I will just pull out and move to my next truck. Something like a truck vault or cap pack are not cheap but they will last you as long as you need them. I had the truck vault before the cap pack was introduced. When I saw the cap pack I was like, Wow, what a great idea!! It is nice to have the guns protected, locked up and secure and not have to deal with all those gun cases.

Enjoy that new ride!!!
 
Here's a calculator to help you pick out something that would fit your wheel wells. The thing to remember when going to taller tires: it reduces your braking power, reduces your engine's power by in effect raising the gear ratio which requires you to recalibrate your speedometer to make your computer work right and avoid tickets for speeding because it will read slower than you're actually going, it increases the likelihood of rubbing on your fender wells which increases the likelihood you'll want to raise the truck which increases the likelihood you'll roll over on a sharp turn while increasingly going broke making modifications to the truck to compensate for modifications you've already made to it.

http://www.wheel-size.com/calc/?whe...=225-45-17X7.5ET41&fcl=50mm&wcl=30mm&scl=50mm
 
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A leveling kit and plus sized tires is not a lift kit and boggers. I raised the front of mine around 1.75" and went from a 265/70/17 to a 285/70/17 tire(33x11.50). Any loss of power and or braking force is negligible on a truck with 300+ hp and big discs at all corners. Hell, most dealerships will install a leveling kit for you and Ford has a truck (raptor) on the lot that comes stock with 35" rubber. The only part that may see some icreased wear are ball joints and maybe cv axles but even those parts have held up fine on my leveled '05 over the last 200k miles.
 
quail hound said:
A leveling kit and plus sized tires is not a lift kit and boggers. I raised the front of mine around 1.75" and went from a 265/70/17 to a 285/70/17 tire(33x11.50). Any loss of power and or braking force is negligible on a truck with 300+ hp and big discs at all corners. Hell, most dealerships will install a leveling kit for you and Ford has a truck (raptor) on the lot that comes stock with 35" rubber. The only part that may see some icreased wear are ball joints and maybe cv axles but even those parts have held up fine on my leveled '05 over the last 200k miles.
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You can't cheat physics and modifying a stock vehicle is never free. It's always a compromise where you give up something to hopefully get something better. The truck seems to sit level now. Why does it need to be leveled? I don't understand.

Using your tire size example: 265/75-16 vs.285/75-16 Difference

Circum. inches (mm) 99.43 (2525.53) vs. 103.14 (2619.77) 3.71 (94.25) 3.7% increase in circumferance

With a 300 hp engine you will reduce your power by 10 hp for a 1" increase in diameter. Your braking power will be reduced by the same percentage.
You raise your vehicle 2" you raise the center of gravity if you don't add weight below the existing CG. What may be a situation where you barely get away with not rolling the vehicle will be more likely to result in a rollover.
Raptors are not the same as an F150 with big tires. It's very different and I don't sense that the OP is interested in making his stock truck into a Raptor. Apples and oranges.
Not only is the Raptor equipped with a locking rear differential, Raptors 2012 and newer also feature a Torsen limited-slip front differential. Side note: All Raptors are 4x4s. The Raptor's Off-Road Mode, traction-enhancing front and rear differentials, and wider (and stronger) rear axle make the total Raptor package very, very hard to beat in a cost-effective manner. By the time you figure out how to add these features to a standard F-150 and do it in a way that doesn't upset the electronics, you'll save time and sanity by shelling out for a real Raptor.
 
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